US: Gas demand rises sharply amid freezing weather

ANKARA

Demand for natural gas has risen sharply in the US amid cold weather, the Department of Energy said Tuesday in its first public situation report about the extreme weather conditions.

While demand for natural gas has increased for home heating and electricity generation across much of central US, the cold weather has also led to supply disruptions caused by gas well freeze-offs and gas processing plant outages in several areas across the south-central region, it said.

The region that includes states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama accounts for approximately 20-25% of total US natural gas production, it added, noting Texas' gas production alone was down 30% from average levels as of Tuesday.

Extreme cold weather conditions and power outages have also forced refineries in the US' Gulf Coast region to shut down, which is around 20% of total refinery capacity in the US, according to the report.

As millions of people are without electricity due to the controlled power outages, most in Texas also struggle with damaged infrastructure caused by adverse weather conditions.

In Texas alone, there were 4.5 million power outages as of 10.45 a.m. EST (1545GMT) on Tuesday, and almost 400,000 in Louisiana and Oklahoma combined, the report said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott slammed the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which is responsible for 90% of the state's electric load.

"Far too many Texans are without power and heat for their homes ... This is unacceptable," he said Tuesday in a statement via Twitter, adding that he issued an executive order to review decisions by ERCOT, which he called "anything but reliable."

Abbott also ordered the Texas National Guard to help vulnerable people move into shelters.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said cold temperatures have put extreme stress on utility companies, and wrote on Twitter :"Do your part to conserve energy until the extreme cold weather passes."

"President [Joe] Biden assured us his administration will do everything possible to support our state until we are through this emergency," she added.

Extreme cold weather has so far claimed a total of 17 lives across multiple states in the Midwest, according to local reports.